Commentary on the Gospel According to John John Calvin
John Calvin direct reply, but in a few words reproaches them with the ignorance in which they flattered themselves. They inquired about the Father; and yet when they had the Son before their eyes, seeing, they did not see, (Matthew 13:13.) It was therefore a just punishment of their pride and wicked ingratitude, that they who despised the Son of God, who had been familiarly offered to them, never approached to the Father For how shall any mortal man ascend to the height of God, unless he be raised on high by the hand of his Son? God in Christ condescended to the mean condition of men, so as to stretch out his hand; and do not those who reject God, when he thus approaches to them, deserve to be excluded from heaven?
Let us know that the same thing is spoken to us all; for whoever aspires to know God, and does not begin with Christ, must wander — as it were — in a labyrinth; for it is not without good reason that Christ is called the image of the Father, as has been already said. Again, as all who, leaving Christ, attempt to rise to heaven, after the manner of the giants, 219 are destitute of all right knowledge of God, so every man who shall direct his mind and all his senses to Christ, will be led straight to the Father. For on good grounds does God declare that, by the mirror of the Gospel, we clearly behold God in the person of Christ, (2 Corinthians 3:18.)
And certainly it is an astonishing reward of the obedience of faith, that whosoever humbles himself before the Lord Jesus, 220 penetrates above all the heavens, even to those mysteries which the angels behold and adore.
20. These words spoke Jesus in the treasury. The treasury was a part of the temple where the sacred offerings were laid up. It was a much frequented place, and hence we infer that this sermon was delivered by Christ amidst a large assembly of men, so that the people had less excuse. The Evangelist likewise holds out to us the astonishing power of God in this respect, that they were constrained to endure Christ openly teaching in the temple, though but lately they sought to seize him, and put him to death. For since they held an undisputed sway in the temple, so that they ruled there with the fierceness of tyrants, they might have banished Christ from it by a single word. And when he ventured to take upon himself the office of a teacher, why do they not instantly lay violent hands on him? We see then that God caused men to hear him, and guarded him by his protection, so that those savage beasts did not touch him, though they had their throats opened to swallow him. 221 The Evangelist again mentions his hour, that we may learn that it is not by the will of men, but by the will of God, that we live and die.
219See page 223, n. 1. 220"Quiconque s'humilie devant le Seigneur Jesus." 221"Combien qu'ils eussent leurs gueules ouvertes pour l'engloutir."